Numerous prior art products are known for cleaning paint brushes and paint rollers. Although oil based or alkyd paints require volatile and often flammable solvents for clean-up, water-based paints are now widely available that allow for water clean-up using soap and water. Nevertheless, cleaning paint rollers thoroughly usually requires copious amounts of water, resulting in gallons of paint-contaminated water being washed down the drain. Many ingenious devices have been designed over the last 50 years or more for spinning the roller during cleaning, to make use of centrifugal force to remove paint and debris, and for spin drying the roller after cleaning. Typically, these devices are either hand-cranked or spun by coupling to an electric drill, while the roller is held in a bucket or container of soapy water for cleaning.
For example, one type of device, which is commercially available at hardware stores, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,534, entitled “Paint Spinner”. This tool uses a manually powered Yankee screwdriver mechanism, or other push/pull driven spinning mechanism (similar to the drive for a child's spinning top), to rotate a paint roller rapidly, e.g. at speeds of in excess of 800 rpm. Thus, the roller may be spun dry, e.g. after cleaning in running water from a hose, or in a bucket of water. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,938 provides an example of an attachment for a power drill for holding a paint brush or roller that may be spun at higher speeds for cleaning and spin drying, which results in more effective removal of paint. On the other hand, these and similar apparatus tend to be very messy to use, resulting in a lot of spray of paint and soiled water from spinning the wet roller, and they do nothing to reduce the amount of water required for cleaning. As a result of the spray, splash and mess, and also the difficulty in thoroughly cleaning rollers with a thick pile, many users simply treat the roller covers as disposable.
More complex apparatus is known which includes a container and a mechanism for spinning the roller, either by using a similar mechanical drive system, or by using a water powered spray to rotate the roller during cleaning, in a water-mill like fashion. By way of example, one such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,320,550 entitled “Paint roller cleaning apparatus”, which uses a mechanical drive and an idler roller that is pressed against the paint roller to squeeze out paint during cleaning, and is then released to allow for the roller to be spun dry within the container. U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,333, entitled “Paint roller cleaning device”, discloses a container with inlet and outlet ports for attaching to a water hose to direct a stream of water against the roller to spin it during cleaning. Another similar apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,027, entitled “Apparatuses for cleaning a paint roller through plural sprays which turn and clean supported rollers”, which includes a large volume container for collecting the wash water or solvent.
These apparatus do collect the soiled water or solvent, and contain the spray, but still require large amounts of water or solvent, and the apparatus itself is complex and difficult to clean.
Numerous other devices are known, which provide paintbrush or roller cleaning attachments for an electric drill, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,055, U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,067, U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,787, U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,672 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,315, U.S. Pat. No. 7,229,206 B2, US 2003/0233753, US 2004/0151060 A1, US 2005/0039785 A1, US 2009/0293918 A1, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,395.
Other types of devices for cleaning painting implements include, by way of example only: U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,645, U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,960, U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,777, U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,152, U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,353, U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,486, U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,598, U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,027, U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,948, U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,362, U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,038 B2, US 2002/0133967A1, US 2006/00004979A1, US 2007/0169798A1.
Compared with manually powered tools or apparatus, attachments that that can be coupled to an electric drill for higher-speed rotation, provide more effective cleaning. However, none of these known devices provide a satisfactory solution for reducing the volume of water or solvent required for cleaning, and those with containers to contain spray and collect wash water or solvent tend to be complicated, relatively expensive to manufacture, or use copious amounts of water or solvent.
Thus, there is a need for an improved apparatus for cleaning paint applicators, such as paint brushes and rollers, which addresses the shortcomings of known products.